Food Tasting # 6: K by Cunanan

My family and I had our initial food tasting with K by Cunanan at their home office earlier today. This was my sixth food tasting session since the start of our wedding preps. Oh how I love free, noncommittal buffet lunches! :)

We didn't see any samples of K by Cunanan's wedding setups, but if our table today was any indication of their styling, then I guess I don't have to worry about how our reception would look like. Their styling was very classy; simple yet elegant. And while I prefer my flowers to be bold and bright, I think the peach and light pink roses used as our centerpiece are perfect for shabby chic and vintage-themed weddings.

My parents waiting for their food

I was surprised that Jieza, the AE assigned to me, didn't come out to discuss the packages with me when we arrived. Instead she just allowed us to eat the food first in peace, which is actually a good thing because I got to enjoy our food even more. :)

Our menu for today included some of K by Cunanan's bestsellers. We loved their Raspberry Iced Tea. This is probably one of the best iced teas I've ever tasted because it is very refreshing and it doesn't have that cough syrup-taste that some raspberry iced teas have. I thought it tasted like the gelatins I used to eat as a child. I also love that it's bottomless. I had at least four refills during our food tasting and I still wanted more.

Raspberry Iced Tea

For our cocktails, we had Cheese & Roasted Pepper Quesadillas and Pan de Sal Bruschetta.  I liked that both appetizers were not too heavy that you'd feel too full to eat afterwards, but I was still disappointed by the choices they served us today. The quesadillas were too cheesy that you could barely taste the roasted pepper. In fact, I thought they were just simple cheese quesadillas; I only knew that there were supposed to be roasted peppers when I read our menu hours later. Meanwhile, the bruschetta was cold and tough to chew. While the mango salsa on top was a sweet treat, I thought the adobo flakes were a bit burned, giving the bruschetta a bitter aftertaste. Oh well, maybe we could have fared better with the Hoisin Crackling PorkWrap.

Cheese & Roasted Peppers Quesadillas

Pan de Sal Bruschetta

We then had the Roasted Corn Soup. When I heard about this dish, I was initially thinking along the lines of the Knorr Corn Soup, the typically white-colored soup that is sold in the local market. So I was pleasantly surprised to see the creamy, orange soup in front of me. Kakaiba siya eh! The corn taste was prominent in every bite (or slurp) of the soup, although my brother kept complaining that it was too sweet. I don't know, my brother has weird tastebuds.

Roasted Corn Soup

Afterwards, we had the Grilled Caesar Salad to satisfy our veggie cravings. I don't know why they called it the Grilled Caesar Salad because it doesn't looked like it's grilled to me. It's the typical Caesar salad but with a twist: instead of the Caesar dressing, it uses melted cheese, like the one used for nachos. Plus, there were also bits of parmesan cheese sprinkled on top of the salad. All in all, it's a nice salad dish, but I'd prefer to taste something totally different, like the Barbecue Chicken Salad perhaps.

Grilled Caesar Salad

Now on to the main courses. K by Cunanan served us four main dishes—pork, chicken, fish and pasta— and rice. For our rice, we were given the famous Carrot Rice to taste. I don't like carrots so I was scared that the rice would taste all-carroty. But surprisingly, it didn't taste anything like carrots at all! It was just plain yummy. Now this is a good way to get some Vitamin A into our system. Hehe.

Carrot Rice

For our pork entree, we had the Barbecued Baby Back Ribs and Corn with Parsley Butter. As I told you before, I love baby back ribs so I couldn't find anything to criticize about this dish. However, I think K by Cunanan's ribs are better than the ones we ate during Josiah's food tasting. Their ribs had more meat to its bones and has even more flavor because of the barbecue ranch sauce. In fact, the whole dish was just oozing with barbecue sauce! Of course, the corn was a welcome addition to the dish as well. Basta, this is definitely a winner for me! :)

Barbecued Baby Back Ribs and Corn with Parsley Butter

We had an unusual choice for our pasta dish: Spicy Tuyo Angel Hair Pasta. This dish reminded me of the Garlic Tuyo Pasta that I ate in Lime 88 in Mandaluyong. While Lime 88's pasta uses white sauce to offset the saltiness of the dried fish, K by Cunanan's pasta uses olive oil to complement the tuyo and to contain its flavor. You can still taste the tuyo from the noodles even if you haven't eaten the actual bits. The only downside is that the noodles can be too salty for some, but blame it on the tuyo. So if you're looking for an alternative from the usual white and red sauces, try this dish.

Spicy Tuyo Angel Hair Pasta

Our chicken entree on our menu is the Japanese Rolled Chicken with Cheese and Leeks in Teriyaki Glaze. Wow, that was a mouthful. Again, I love this dish because the chicken meat is thick, soft and juicy. The teriyaki glaze gives a certain sweetness to the chicken. Now this is a perfect partner to the carrot rice. Yum!

Japanese Rolled Chicken with Cheese and Leeks in Teriyaki Glaze

Our last main course was the Seared Sesame Crusted Tuna with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes. Honestly, I think K by Cunanan is really generous when it comes to their main dishes because the tuna they served us was again big and juicy! It's almost as thick as the slabs of the baby back ribs. Don't believe me? Just look at the photo below. The only thing that I didn't like here was the wasabi mashed potatoes, but that's because I hated anything with wasabi on it. But if you eat the tuna along with the mashed potatoes, it can offset spicyness of the wasabi.

Seared Sesame Crusted Tuna with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

And now for desserts! We had the Flambeed Mangoes and Vanilla Ice Cream and Dark Chocolate and Banana Fritters. Now I was again disappointed with the choices they gave us. I was really expecting to be wow-ed by the desserts, but the selections that they gave us were simply ordinary desserts but with fancier names. The flambeed mangoes and vanilla ice cream was just vanilla ice cream with mango bits on it while the dark chocolate and banana fritters was just turon with dark chocolate sauce and a hint of cinnamon in it. Not that impressive.

Flambeed Mangoes and Vanilla Ice Cream; Dark Chocolate and Banana Fritters

VERDICT: Honestly, I just tried K by Cunanan's food for the experience because they don't allow price locks, so even if I booked them today, I'd still be affected in case they will increase their rates. Still, they were kind enough to accommodate me and my family for food tasting. My AE even went as far as asking me for details on what color of linens would I liked to use for VIP tables! I haven't even thought whom to pick for my principal sponsors. Well, that goes to show how helpful their AEs are. :)

K BY CUNANAN
#15 Emilio Jacinto St. Ayala Heights, Quezon City
711-0940, 711-0952
kbycunanancatering@gmail.com